In the modern assembly-line production of products for the mass market, as well as in the end retail market, an important stage is the labeling of the product. Although a good deal, and often all, of the information needed on the package (UPC, source identification, etc.) can be printed on the wrapping material itself, there often remains the need to affix other labels. These labels include in particular, but are not limited to, point of origin, theft-mitigation tags and the like. Such labels are often applied by the end retailer, either to the outside of the product or to the outside of the product's packaging. Recently, large retailers have begun to require that these labels be already affixed when the products arrive from the manufacturer or wholesale-distributor. Labelers for products such as fruit or vegetables are well known. A number of devices are available which peel self-adhesive labels from a backing material and apply the label to fruit and vegetables as well as other products. Known prior art devices utilize a continuous composite strip of non-adhesive backing material having a plurality of pre-cut labels releasably attached thereto. The devices fall into two broad general categories, they are either the hand-held type used by retailers or specialized machinery used by manufacturers. Both the hand-held and the specialized equipment are designed with a concentration on increasing the speed of peeling away the backing material and placing the label on the product without sacrificing accuracy or reliability.
Specialized labelers are also known which are designed to apply labels quickly to a specific size and/or type of product, e.g. apples, melons, tomatoes, cans, bottles etc. Specialized labelers are of four general types: vacuum, blow-on, tamp-apply, and laid-on. The vacuum or bellows type labelers typically have a number of applicators arrayed around a circular head. Labels are stripped from a continuous web of backing material and, as each label is stripped, a respective one of the applicators uses vacuum to pick up the label and stick the adhesive side of the label to the product. The adhesive overcomes the relatively weak vacuum such that the label adheres to the product. The second type of automatic labeler is a “blow-on” or compressed air labeler in which the label is peeled from the backing material and a burst of compressed air blows the label onto the product. The third labeler type is a “tamp-apply” labeler in which labels are peeled from the backing and tamped onto the product with a piston-type applicator. Finally, the fourth type of automatic labeler is a “laid-on” labeler in which a peel blade is positioned at the end of an articulating labeling arm. A continuous web of labels are threaded past the peel blade and selectively advanced when a product is sensed on the conveyor. Individual labels are stripped from the continuous label web by the peel blade and pushed into contact with the product by a sponge roller or the like.
Although the specialized labeling equipment listed above does have the ability to apply labels rapidly, it also has a number of disadvantages. These disadvantages include the cost of the equipment, set-up time, space requirements, and the training and salary demanded by specialized personnel. Since the labeling machines are especially designed for one product type and size, or at best a narrow range of types and sizes, various parts of the machine must be changed if one wishes to use the labeling machine with another label or for a different product. Although this drawback may not be a problem for industries where products or containers do not vary, it creates significant drawbacks in certain industries. This is especially true of the fruit and vegetable industry where every piece is slightly different and shapes are irregular.
Hand-held type labeling devices in the past have typically been used at the retail level to apply price tags and the like. Hand-held type labeling devices have also been disclosed for applying adhesive postage stamps and sale labels to flat surfaces. These devices typically utilize the same type of coiled composite webbing material as the specialized machinery. Like the specialized machines, the hand-held labelers must separate the self-adhesive material from the backing material before attachment. To separate the layers the operator usually squeezes the handle of the device operating the mechanisms. The non-adhesive backing material must be rewound or torn away to continue use. Due to their cumbersome nature, these devices are generally avoided for large volume applications.
To be practical, hand-held devices generally have a limited size and space available. Most of this space is consumed by the mechanisms required to remove the backing material from the labels. To function properly, these machines must be loaded with the rolls of backing and adhesive material precisely threaded through the mechanisms. Normal wear and tear on the mechanisms requires continual maintenance and adjustment to maintain proper operation. The expense of hand-held labeler devices normally limits the number of hand labeling devices available at a location.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,384 discloses a postage stamp dispenser and applicator which utilizes self-adhesive stamps on a roll of backing material. The mechanism includes a stamp roll holding chamber, a stamp conveyor platen with a separator at its end for separating the stamps from the backing paper, a backing paper spooler, and a ratchet wheel for rotating the spooler.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,208 discloses a hand-held labeler which uses labels loosely adhered to a carrier web. A strip of labels on the carrier web are wound onto a label supply roll. The carrier web is guided through the body of the labeler to where a de-laminator successively de-laminates labels from the carrier web and an applicator applies the labels. A winder having a spindle or spool is manually rotated to wind the label carrying web onto a take-up roll.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,875,715 and 6,138,734 disclose hand-held labelers for printing and applying labels which are adhered to a carrier web in a roll form. The device peels the labels from the non-adhesive carrier web before they can be placed on the desired product.
Accordingly, what is lacking in the art is a disposable hand-held labeling device in which individual unbacked labels are utilized in a stacked arrangement and are fed and applied to products without the need for mechanisms designed to peel away a backing material.